Rapid Response: F-bombs, social media and school

Question: Recently, a northeast Indiana senior was expelled from school after he posted, from home, the F-word multiple times on the social media site Twitter. The school district says he did it over a school computer network. The teen disputes that. How far should the school's disciplinary reach be when it comes to students and social media?

? Only as far as their reach goes for verbal media. If the kid is dropping F-bombs on Twitter, you can only imagine what he says when he's not on Twitter.

Cindy Salazar

Lafayette

? Show me the network logs, @superintendent. #fbomb

Jason Dufair

? Students would be well served to learn lessons about jurisdiction. Who better to teach such lessons than schools? The first lesson should be "things which happen within our walls are under our jurisdiction" followed by "those things that happen away from school are not our jurisdiction."

Jon Held

Lafayette

? Schools have no business meddling in students' private communications, even the more public ones like online social media. There's a fairly easy fix for this - block access to social media sites from school computers. They should be used for school work anyway, not social functions.

Noemi Ybarra

Lafayette

? Oh gheesh, here we go again. Like the "I (heart) boobies" bracelet thing. Is it the kid or the parents thinking their little sweety is OK using the F-word? Of course there will be those parents who think it's cute. Call me old fashioned, but if I ever used that word around my parents my head would have been knocked clean off. But then again there are parents that think this is just part of growing up. It tells you a lot about their lifestyle and how they live.

Cliff Davenport

Rossville

? He could have written what he did at school, on a school-owned computer, during the ISTEP and while smoking a cigarette, and he still would not deserve to be expelled.

Darren Cooper

Lafayette

? If he used his own network, then no school control. On the other hand, if he did use the school's network, then he is subject to their discipline. Either way, the student should be embarrassed and his parents outraged at his behavior.

Terry Smith

Shadeland

? If this kid is doing this over the school network, then the school has every right to punish in any way they feel that they need to.

Mark Acles

Lafayette

? Not expulsion. What happened to the old punishment like writing: "I will not send the F-word on the school network" 100 times on the classroom chalkboard?

Bill Fuller

West Lafayette

? It would seem we need to treat the students similar to an employee/employer relationship. If they disrupt the education process in any way the school system should have the right to fire at will. Discipline needs to be adhered to in the educational setting and this would seem to meet that goal.

Bud Wang

Lafayette

? Too bad they just can't lay him over a desk and paddle him like they did at Dayton decades ago.

Jack Lahrman

Sheffield Township

? This long ago high school principal applauds the school's disciplinary action in expelling the student. I'm also father of three, grandfather of eight, and great-grandfather of six - soon to be seven. What protection do other families have if teenage students are free to uninhibited use on school-owned property of such language aimed only to shock?

Jim Hanks

West Lafayette

? Expulsion seems harsh and unproductive. Perhaps a class on the topic of a limited vocabulary and an introduction to the dictionary would be helpful.

Claire Brigham

West Lafayette

? On school time and school computers should be absolutely no social media unless it is part of their curriculum. At home is private for whomever lives in the home.

Shelby Branstetter

Lafayette

? This is a no-brainer. Never post anything on a computer you don't want the whole world to see. Institutions must protect their networks from abuse. Enough said.

Fred Phillips

Lafayette

? If you are on a school network or a business network you need to be decent and respectable at all times. Therefore if he did it, then he pays the consequences. If its on his own private network then no problem.

Arlan Stavnheim

Lafayette

? His parents should teach him some manners.

Bob Shropshire

Lafayette

? The school should properly teach our children proper etiquette, manners and class instead of expulsion. As I taught my granddaughter at 2 years old, vulgarity is a sign of a limited vocabulary and a low I.Q.

Furman A. Powell

Lafayette

? Unless they are: A. using school equipment, or; B. slandering the school/employees, it's really none of the school's business.

Mike Dudgeon

Lafayette

? If the problem comes from a school computer network they have the right to discipline as they see fit. If the problem is strictly on a students home computer, the school should keep their hands off.

Jon Sexson

Lafayette

? The reach should be no further than the school network. If he didn't use school time or school computer to do the deed, case closed. Seems like this kid could use more schooling, rather than less. Have him write out something expressing his thoughts without cursing (grammar and spelling count in school, not on Twitter).

Rick Mummey

Lafayette

? Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me, BUT, on the other hand, the word is father to the deed, so, you pays your money and you takes your choice. I had thought that we might have progressed from George Carlin's famous seven words, but apparently not. If we turn to another expression, "in loco parentis," and the school is indeed expected to behave like loco parents. I suppose, like Cole Porter explained the '30s, "Anything goes."

Ed Posey

West Lafayette

? What students do off the school campus and outside school hours should not be subject to school discipline unless the students are members of athletic teams, etc., that are covered by other school policies. The exception would be when the school becomes aware of conduct that is obviously harmful to the student, the public or other students, in which case the student's parents and the appropriate law enforcement agency should be notified as applicable.

Carl V. Covely, Jr.

Sheffield Township

? I think teachers and school administrators are entering a new arena of what is allowed and not allowed on computers. I think if the site is a homework site, rules should be set up as to what is allowed. If a student were to write a term paper and turn it in and multiple F-words were used, what would the teacher do? Would the student be given a failing grade, would they be expelled? If this is a class assignment then rules or disciplinary action should be taken the same as if they were doing the work in class.

Jean Wichterman

Lafayette

? If the questionable post was done on the school's property, equipment or domain then the school should have the authority to discipline the student. If done away from school on personal equipment and account then the school gets no say.

? Schools should be treated like businesses. That is, if students violate the policies while using the school's facilities, equipment or network, they should be punished (however, expulsion seems a bit excessive in this case, unless there were prior violations). But if he posted from home on his own computer and Internet connection, the school is overreaching its authority.

Scott J. Brunton

Lafayette

? If he did it over school network, the school is cool. Whether or not, his parents should support discipline. If not, no wonder the kid has a problem. If not on their network, the school is out of line, but that is what parents get when they expect the schools to rear their kids.

E. Lloyd Wells

Lafayette

? If it's not done on the school's network, it's not the school's business. If it is, the student should be subject to disciplinary action. In this case, unless the profanity was used in the context of threatening physical violence against others, expulsion is a draconian punishment.

Frank Arnold

Lafayette

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Rapid Response: F-bombs, social media and school

Question: Recently, a northeast Indiana senior was expelled from school after he posted, from home, the F-word multiple times on the social media site Twitter. The school district says he did it over